Lorde Biography

Ella Maria Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known by her stage name Lorde (), is a New Zealand singer-songwriter. Her first EP, The Love Club, was released on , and her first single, "Royals", debuted at number one on the New Zealand Top 40, and also reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2013, making her the first New Zealand solo artist to have a number one song in the United States. Her debut album, Pure Heroine, was released on . She won the Silver Scroll Award for 2013 for "Royals".

Early life

</ref>}} Ella Yelich-O'Connor was born in Auckland, New Zealand on 7 November 1996 to Vic O'Connor, a civil engineer, and Sonja Yelich, a prize-winning New Zealand poet. She was raised in suburban Devonport, Auckland alongside three siblings, including a younger brother and sister, and an older sister. She is of Croatian and Irish ancestry.

At the age of 12 she attended Belmont Intermediate. In August 2009, her musician friend Louis McDonald's father, Ian, sent Universal A&R scout Scott Maclachlan two home recordings - an audio of Louis & Ella covering Duffy's hit song 'Warwick Avenue', and a video of her singing Pixie Lott's 'Mama Do'. Later, when Lorde was 13, A&R scout Scott Maclachlan signed her to Universal and at the age of 14, she began working with their songwriters. Lorde began writing songs with her guitar at "about thirteen or fourteen".

As of July 2013, Lorde is a Year Twelve student at Takapuna Grammar School and is a self-identified feminist.

Music career

2012-present: Pure Heroine

Lorde's debut EP, The Love Club, was originally posted on SoundCloud in November 2012. Officially released digitally in March 2013 and on CD in May 2013, The Love Club EP features five songs, including the number one hit "Royals". On 27 May 2013, "Royals" was covered on national television on the New Zealand version of The X Factor by all-girl group Gap 5, mentored by Melanie Blatt. "Royals" debuted as a single at number 1 on the New Zealand Top 40 on 15 March 2013 and remained in the top position for three weeks. On 8 May 2013, The Love Club EP debuted in the number 2 position on the album chart. In August 2013, with "Royals", Lorde became the first female in 17 years to top the U.S. Billboard Alternative Songs chart, since Tracy Bonham with her 1996-hit, "Mother Mother". Following the release of "Royals" in the United States in June 2013, 85,000 copies were sold during a single week in July. In a subsequent interview, Lorde stated, "I had a sneaking suspicion that it might do all right". The song also peaked number 1 in the U.S. on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as the Alternative charts and the Rock charts. With "Royals", Lorde became the first solo artist from New Zealand to top the US Billboard chart, and the youngest artist to hold the US number one in more than 25 years. The "Tennis Court" single was released in New Zealand on 8 June 2013. The Tennis Court EP was released digitally in the UK on 7 June (due to the timezone difference) and physically on 22 June. It was played during the BBC Sport coverage of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships " Women's Singles final. On 14 June 2013, Lorde's second single "Tennis Court" debuted at number 1 on the New Zealand Top 40 singles chart. In the same week, she also became the first New Zealand artist to simultaneously have four songs in the top 20 tracks of the New Zealand Top 40. Previously, Titanium held this record with three songs. Lorde was the replacement for Frank Ocean, who cancelled because of illness, at the 2013 Splendour in the Grass festival. She was contacted on 26 July 2013, the Friday immediately prior to the weekend of the festival, while she was at a party with friends in Auckland, New Zealand. She performed before 10,000 people in northern Byron Bay, Australia, where the festival is based in 2013. On 12 August 2013, Lorde announced on her Twitter profile that her debut album Pure Heroine would be released on in the US on 30 September 2013. The album's release was preceded by a New Zealand advertising campaign, with its lyrics displayed in classified ads, shop windows, posters and fax broadcast to media offices. In early September 2013, Lorde and co-writer Joel Little were shortlisted for the 2013 Silver Scroll Award"?the award honours outstanding achievements in the writing of original New Zealand pop music songs"?for "Royals". On October 15, it was announced they had won. In a September 2013 interview for TV3's 3rd Degree, Lorde revealed that she had declined an offer from singer Katy Perry to be a supporting act on Perry's world tour. Her cover of Tears for Fears' hit song "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was included on the The Hunger Games: Catching Fire film soundtrack.

Musical style and influences

Lorde's music draws from electropop, but she grew up listening to soul musicians Etta James and Otis Redding. She cites the unusual vocals of Grimes, the band Sleigh Bells and producer SBTRKT as prominent influences for Lorde. Lorde also stated that she was inspired by the initially hidden identities of Burial and The Weeknd, explaining, "I feel like mystery is more interesting", and called American musical artist Nicki Minaj an "important female in pop". Lorde describes short story writers Raymond Carver, Wells Tower, Tobias Wolff and Claire Vaye Watkins as lyrical inspirations, and particularly noted their sentence structures.

During the writing of The Love Club (2013), Lorde was particularly influenced by Kanye West and she performed a cover version of West's song "Hold My Liquor" at her Auckland concert on 7 September 2013.

Discography

• Pure Heroine (2013)

Awards

|- | 2013 | Ella Yelich-O'Connor and Joel Little for "Royals" | 2013 APRA Silver Scroll | |- |}